Welcome

This website is devoted to the modern urbanization of Tampa and Hillsborough County Florida, primarily through the development of an
alternative rail-based mass transit system connecting all corners of the county and beyond. To accomplish this, aside from the focus
on a developed mass transit system, this website also focuses on urban development solutions related to denser city living, improved
pedestrian infrastructure, laws, policies, public safety, and the promotion and expansion of political agendas which favor these things.

This website has exitsted for a long time. You can review its history here

Tampa Rail Resources

Tampa Rail was an early, and for awhile, dominant online voice for the development of urban rail in Tampa.
Since the explosive growth of social media as a separate and distinct industry, not to mention serious political ground gained in the progress toward rail in Tampa, professionals have long taken over. Here are some
of the organizations and efforts underway in Tampa to bring rail to the city.

There are actually quite a few important political supporters of Tampa urban rail but as I have been a way for awhile it's going to take
some time to wrap myself in current developments and learn who they are, so pardon the anemic size in the meantime. Bob and Mark
were gung-ho when I lapsed attention and still are! They are easy to remember - not alone.

Current State of Affairs

To put the status of rail transit in Tampa as succiently as possible the metropoliton citizens of Tampa
want light rail and want it quickly - they voted for it. County residents have opposed it, and for the foreseeable future will be a
roadblock wildcard. That's because their votes count - so far. A recent idea is for Tampa to cede itself under a "home rule" configuration
that would, presumably then, allow a transit vote to pass indepedent of the county and a starter rail system to get built. That's about as unlikely
as a foot of snow in Ybor City, so for now the campaign continues to swing enough county residents to way of rail.

Tampa does operate an approximately 3 mile streetcar line which connects downtown to Channelside, but when the economy tanked
its endowment fund bled, taking service frequency with it. As a result it's strictly a tourist tool and novelty, but, there's
enough talk about changing that too. As more residents pile into fresh downtown high rises, the long-term for this system is likely
to be a more transit-oriented one that eventually cuts through and loops the entire center city.

Wasn't Tampa Supposed to Get High Speed Rail?

Three years ago Tampa was poised to be one of the first cities with a true high speed rail terminus connecting it to Orlando and points beyond. This would have
undoutably spurred local urban rail development by leaps and bounds. Buildings were knocked down to make
way for it and a giant check from the federal government was cut and handed to Florida in order to get it all done. However, months
before the check was accepted and cashed, Rick Scott became governor and refused to accept it on ideological grounds. He offered
no reasons for the rejection aside from those which were tepid and easily countered by market research reports which showed that the line as it
was being considered, would have been profitable. During his campaign he withheld his predisposition to cancel the system capriciously
and this lie of ommission made the difference in the election. Already dull-witted in business and apparently propped up by corrupt
and criminal masterminds around him for most of his "successful" career, he needed every advantage in the election to win - ethical
disclosure be damned.